The task of present-day radio astron­ omy is to study extraterrestrial objects by means of the nature of the radio emission coming from them. Radio astronomy research is valuable for the significance of the results which greatly supplement the data of optical astronomy. It has also become a basic source of information on regions which, whilst they play a part in the generation, reflection or scattering of radio waves, make no significant contribution to the optical part of the spectrum.

This book presents a detailed dis­cussion and analysis of the radio emission of the Sun, the Moon and the planets, and is an attempt to fill a gap in the literature currently available. There is much contemporary interest in the observation and interpretation of the radio emissions from these bodies, and this work will be of considerable value both to radio and optical astronomers, and also to the theoretical physicists who seek greater under­ standing of the results obtained by the users of radio telescopes. There is an extensive bibliography which adds to the importance of this book as a work of reference.

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